Thanks to the advent of private English medium schools in every nook and corner of the district including interior villages, the very existence of government schools has become bleak with several schools closed and others on the verge of closure.
The enrolment into the government schools including Zilla Parishad schools is declining considerably every year due to the mushrooming of private English medium schools. Besides, the parents have also lost faith in the performance of government schools and are sending their wards to private schools for better education, said official sources.
Against a total of 1967 primary schools in the district, 1,120 primary schools have a strength of less than 30 students. Among them, 75 schools have zero enrolment which has forced the authorities to close them down. Out of a total of 332 upper primary schools, 130 schools have less than 30 students’ strength. Similarly, 20 high schools have less than 50 students against a total of 645 high schools in the district.
During the academic year 2012-13, there were a total of 2.62 lakh students enrolled in the government schools. In 2013-14, the figure came down to 2.4 lakh and in 2014-15 year it further came down to 2.23 lakh. This academic year, the teaching community feared that the enrolment would come down drastically forcing the closure of most schools.
Some of the government teachers concerned about this trend have launched a campaign to educate the parents to send their wards to the government schools. But, the response has been lukewarm so far they said. District Educational Officer K Lingaiah told The Hindu , that he has instructed the MEOs to conduct a meeting with all elected representatives including sarpanches in the villages and approach the parents to motivate them to send their children to government schools. He however added that there was a growing craze for English medium schools in the rural and urban areas.
A teachers’ union leader, on condition of anonymity, said that the opening up of KGBV and Model schools has proved dearly for the existence of government schools. The parents have also lost confidence on the government sector as none of the government teachers send their wards to the government schools themselves, he maintained.
